1092 Turtle Petitions from Ecological Footprint 2014

51 students from environmental engineering and petrochemical engineering under the Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology of University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) organized an event called Ecological Footprint 2014, funded by Dana Belia (1Malaysia Youth Program). Led by Ms. Quek Jian Ai; chairman of Ecological Footprint and Ms. Yap Xue Yun; vice chairman of Ecological Footprint, as well as event advisors Engr. Dr Sumathi a/p Sethupathi and Dr. Yamuna a/p Munusamy, they successfully collected 1092 petitions to call for the ban of the sale and consumption of turtle eggs and parts in Malaysia.

The event was organized from 18th to 20th June and attracted over 1000 participants, hoping to generate awareness on turtle conservation as environmental deterioration is one of the many reasons that they are on the endangered list. It aimed to teach UTARians what they can do to reduce the threats faced by turtles through instilling environmental values.

Games were set up to educate students on ways to reduce their ecological footprint and live in harmony with nature and a survey was conducted to study the use of Earth's resources by the students based on their current lifestyles.The event also hosted two talks by Dr. Fauziah binti Shahul Hamid from University Malaya and Mr. Andrew Zoromski from Ecoknights. “The talks really opened up my eyes on how Malaysia deals with its Municipal Solid Waste. It’s shocking that the 3R - Recycle, Reuse and Reduce habit is not known to Malaysians by heart. Even the smallest things we do like throwing a plastic bag could end up in the river then the sea which kills marine animals, including turtles” said a participant of Ecological Footprint, Tan Yi Mi.

“We as the future leaders and parents should prioritize the environment first. We should act now and change the future before our children or even their grandchildren ask us why we didn’t do anything when we were the last frontier to save the environment. We had damage the environment enough, we should learn to repair
it. That’s is why our slogan for this event is We Stomp, We Heal. My team and I want to show our generation how Earth is dying and teach them how to make Earth beautiful again with all creatures.” said the chairman of the event when asked why she organized this event.

The event was a success and the organizers were happy that they managed to make an impact to UTARians on environmental awareness. They hope that students will learn to be greener and live a more sustainable lifestyle.

The organizing committee from Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, UTAR.

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